Shoplifting and Other Fraud Cost Retailers Nearly $50 Billion Last Year

Loss of store inventory - reasons such as shoplifting and employee theft - US retail sales in 2016 decreased close to $ 48.9 billion

According to the National Retail Safety Survey conducted by the National Retail Federation Trade Group, the average inventory reduction rate in 2016 has increased to 44%. This number - Measures out of stock inventory - Includes missing items due to shoplifting, employee theft, administrative error, supplier fraud and other unknown losses

The majority (36.5%) of missing inventory is due to shoplifting by external customers, then stolen employees (30%). Management mistake accounted for 21.3% of inventory reduction and supplier fraud accounted for 4%

The survey included 83 retailers, some of which had multiple brands - and the average cost per shoplifting doubled to $ 798.48. The average cost of theft of one employee was $ 1,922.80. Part of the reason for the investigation was a reduction in penalties for surimi and employees of the store.

Retailers have reported that shoplifting has a major impact on their earnings, stating that about 0.6% of all inventory has disappeared from the store's pickpocket. According to the nationwide retail industry security survey in 2012, shoplifting will cost approximately US $ 14 billion annually to US retailers. As reportedly, in 2001, shoplifting caused US retailers to lose 25 million dollars a day. Observers believe that over half of the industry shoplifts are employee thefts or frauds and the rest are customers. Of course, if arrested during shoplifting, the goods are usually collected by the retailer and the owner of the shop usually has no loss when the suspect hands the item to the store. In addition, in many states, retailers have the right to collect civil damages to cover the costs of providing warranties.

According to data from the Retail Research Center, world retailers lost $ 11 billion in 2011 in 2011. This is equivalent to 1.45% of total annual sales. Though many stores think that plagiarism from large corporations is acceptable, the cost of theft of shops will eventually be passed on to consumers, which can seriously hurt small and medium enterprises . Many companies have to accept security guards as part of their efforts to solve shoplifting. Money is necessary for recruitment, training, payment of wages for these new recruits. Companies that can not afford to hire security guards can reduce employee time by allowing workers to monitor suspicious shoppers and deal with stolen hackers. It takes time on the administrative side to contact the police and make thieves justice.

According to industry estimates shoplifting is a difficult problem for retailers and spends more than $ 17 billion annually. To enjoy that benefit, many companies revive them with loose domestic laws, using aggressive legal means, even if they are not convicted of cheating. In many states, retailers do not need to return the money they collect, if the case is ultimately dismissed or people are solved. Wal-mart executives acknowledged in the court's testimony that the company did not follow-up to check whether someone got the money from then and was sentenced to shoplifting shoplifting.